Somebody help fill the gap on MT 89' flats.

[wcfn100]

   A lot of people are very excited about the re-release of the MT 89' flatcar, and are clamoring for a TTX offering.  Could someone fill me in about these cars.  My train world ends in 1968 where there were only 149 of these cars out of the 45,000 total cars Trailer-Train had.

  Did TTAX cars become some sort of staple of intermodal traffic in the 70's?

Thanks,

Jason
 

[wm3798]

Yes.

[amato1969]

It's not hard to convert the Micro-Trains TTAX cars to the more prevalent TTX configuration.  Just fill in the container "tracks" and slice off the short bridge plates, and you're good to go.

I have to shoot some pics of mine -- maybe today...

  Frank

[Mark5]

Most of the flats were 85' in the 60s (I think), but the 89 footer were around in the late 60s.

I have some of the MT in brown (the sixties scheme), I should check the series to see if it is close to proto.

[amato1969]

Yes, lots of 75' and 85' cars in the 60s.  The Micro-Trains "flush-deck" car was first produced in 1968.  There were, however, other 89' cars (F89 class) built in the mid-60s.

I have a 1975 ORER, but someone with a late 60s copy would be able to break down the versions for you, Jason.

[wcfn100]

I have a 1975 ORER, but someone with a late 60s copy would be able to break down the versions for you, Jason.

How many TTAX cars are listed in 1975?


Jason

[RS-27]

Jan 1974. about 3K.

Bob in IDaho

[amato1969]

Jason, sorry for the delay in answering your question.  Since the Eagles were getting whipped hard last night, I transcribed the following from my 1975 ORER:

Total Trailer Train cars: 74,707

TTAX class cars: 4888

Class      Start      End        Length    Qty                     Notes
Ash10a   970000   970803   89'4"   795      TTAX ; new 1968
Ash90a   970804   970944   89'4"   141      TTAX ; new 4/69
Ash10a   970945   970999   89'4"   55      TTAX ; built 9/72
Bsh12a   971001   971289   89'4"   288      TTAX ; new 7/72-3/73
Bsh20a   971290   971999   89'4"   710      TTAX ; built 1972-1973
Bsh20a   972000   973125   89'4"   1121      TTAX
Psh10a   973126   973699   89'4"   544      TTAX ; new 1975 (yellow scheme)
Psh20a   973671   973757   89'4"   87      TTAX ; built 3/75
Psh20a   973759   973786   89'4"   28      TTAX ; built 3/75
Ash10a   974000   974324   89'4"   323      TTAX ; new 1973
Ash20a   974325   974834   89'4"   509      TTAX ; built 12/73-1/74
Bsh20a   978000   978164   89'4"   165      TTAX ; new 1974
Bsh22   978165   978289   89'4"   103      TTAX

There were 16 single cars listed, plus cars 101-103 that I did not copy here.  The build dates came from Dave Casdorph's Freight Car Data Book -- a fabulous reference for all Trailer Train / TTX equipment.

  Frank

[wcfn100]

Thanks Frank,

  Those 1968 numbers are curious as my Jan 1969 ORER doesn't show some of those cars. It only has 970000-970149.  Any idea how to break down the classes? I've had no luck figuring it out.


Jason

[amato1969]

I would guess that deliveries of that 1968 order must have stretched into 1969, and thus are not part of your ORER.  You can also check your ORER to see when the data was prepared (compared to the "publish" date).  Anyway, according to the Dec 1993 RMJ article, the TTX car classes are broken down as follows:

1st letter is the builder: A=ACF, B=Bethlehem Steel, P=Pullman-Standard

2nd letter indicates deck height: s=standard (3' 5-1/2"), or l=low

3rd letter represents the draft gear: f=friction type, h=hydraulic cushioning

next two digits identify the manufacturer sub-class

the last letter indicates the type of service (in this case "a" for all-purpose - trailers and/or containers)

  Frank

[wcfn100]

Excellent, thank you.

Jason

[amato1969]

Here are two quick grab shots of brown TTAX cars.  The Microscale decals worked nicely:

http://picasaweb.google.com/amato1969/NScale

The color isn't the best -- the white balance was set to manual.  I didn't notice until too late  ???

  Frank

[Mark5]

Jason, sorry for the delay in answering your question.  Since the Eagles were getting whipped hard last night, I transcribed the following from my 1975 ORER:

Total Trailer Train cars: 74,707

TTAX class cars: 4888

Class      Start      End        Length    Qty                     Notes
Ash10a   970000   970803   89'4"   795      TTAX ; new 1968

Was just looking at one of my brown MT flats, it falls in this range (97025X range IIRC) and a build date of 3-68.

[Robbman]

Message deleted

[wcfn100]

Earlier than that... I have a 1962 P-S drawing for lot 8802 of 89' 1" flats for N&W, ACL and L&N... same basic design later used for those F89 classes (IIRC, the L&N cars were sold to TTX in 1966)

  Robbman, would you have anything that would help with any of the following cars?

F39a, F39c
G85, G85a
F85a, F85b, F85c,F85d
F89b, F89c, F89f, F89g

It looks like I'm going to have to "do for myself" when it comes to trailer flats.  The 85' cars are the most useful, the 75' and 89' are about the same for my purposes. 

I'm not looking for anything now.  I'm just curious for future projects.

Jason